Car-brake



' vation.

NITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

CHARLES H. SPARKS AND WALTER n. SPARKS, on BUBLINGTORIOWA.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 224,362, dated February 10, 1880.

Application filed December 23, 1879. e

To all whom it may concern Be it 'known. that we, W. E. SPARKS an CHAS. H. SPARKS, of Burlington, Des Moines county, Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Brakes, of which the following is a specification. 1

Figure l is a top view. Fig. 2 is aside ele- Fig. 3 is a bottom plan. Fig. 4 isa longitudinal vertical sectional view. Fig.5 is an end view. Fig.6 is a cross-section; and Fig. 7 is a perspective View, illustrating certain details in-the construction of our invention.

This invention relates,to car-brakes; and it consists in certain improvements in the construction of the same, which'willbe herein after fully described, and particularly 'pointed out in the claims. A

111 the drawings hereto annexed, A repre sents a car-truck, supported, in -the usual man? ner, upon wheels B B. O is a bracket secured under said truck, and having bearings for the longitudinally-sliding rods D D, the forward ends of which are fixed in ahead or follower, E,'and the rear ends threaded and provided with nuts F F, between-which is secured a plate, Gr, capable of being adjusted upon said rods D by moving the nuts F;

H is a shaft arranged longitudinally'under truck A and working in bearings in bracket 0 and in a hanger, I. Shaft H is provided with a screw-thread taking in a threaded perforation, J, in follower E, which latter istherefore moved longitudinally when shaft His revolved. At its front end the shaft H is provided with a pinion, K, adapted to engage one of two pinions, L M, ,at either end of a connection, N, adjustable upon the front axle, P, of truck A by a lever, 0. By operating said lever the pinions L M may be slid in either direction upon axle P, (upon which they are prevented from rotating by the key Q,) thus causing either of them to engage the pinion K, and thereby causing shaft H to be rotated in either direction.

B R are rods connecting thebracket O with hanger I, both of which are thereby braced. The rods R are also fitted in bearings inthe sides of the follower E, the motion of which is thereby steadied during operation.

S S represent two boxes, arranged upon the under side of truck 'A in rear of the bracket 0, and provided with guides T for slides U U,

having a horizontal transverse motion, andprovided with longitudinal horizontal slots V, which are dovetailed or otherwise suitably constructed to receive the sliding arms W, which project inwardly toward the middle; of the truck. The, slides U are forced in an outward direction by suitably-arranged springs X X, and the ends of the said slides are beveled'upon the outside, respectively, in an upward and downward direction to engage the beveled ends of the leversYY, which are pivoted in the 'outer sides of the boxes S, as

shown. The levers Y have upward-projectin g ar'msZ, connected by rods A with crank-levers B, projecting downward from a rock-shaft, 0, having a lever, D, projecting upward through a slot, E, in truck A. It will be observed that by operating lever D the; levers Yare swung upon their pivots-thus causing the ends of said levers to strike the beveled ends of theslides U, which are thereby forced in an inward direction toward the middle of the truck. j g

F represents a heavy pair of tongs, arranged between the boxes S S under truck A, and

having the rear ends of their arms G pivoted to the arms W W, which, as before stated,

have a longitudinal sliding motion in the slides UU. The forward ends of the arms G of tongs F form beveled hooks H, adapted to engage and hold, a wedge-shaped projection, I, upon thevrear side of the plate G, so that when this engagement is established and the shaft H revolved in such amanner as to carry the follower E iii a forward direction the plate G and tongs F are at the same time carried forward. The tongs F are held in engagement with wedge I by the springsXX, which force the slides U, to which therear ends'of the arms of said tongs are connected by the rods :W W, in'an inward direction, and they may be disengagedlby operating the lever D, as above described. 7,

A plate or bracket, J, projecting downwardly from truck A,be tween the boxes S S and in rear of the tongs F, is provided with bearings fora -1on gitndinally-sliding rod, K,

the front end of which is connected to the pin L, by which the arms G of tongs F are pivoted together.

The rear end of rod K has secured to it a connecting rod, rope, or cable, M, by which connection is made with a cylinder, N, journaled transversely in suitable bearings under the truck 0 of the next car. Wound in an opposite direction upon said cylinder, and having its end secured to the brake-beam P, is a rope or cable, Q, which, when the cable M is wound or unwound, as the case may be, operates to force the brakes against the wheels of truck 0.

Suitable connection may be made between the brake mechanism of truck 0 and that of following trucks or cars.

R represent-s a cylinder arranged vertically upon truck A, and containing a slide or follower, S, supported upon a coiled spring, T. Said follower is connected, by a rope or cord, U, (which may, if necessary or desirable, be passed over a suitably-arranged pulley,) with the follower E.

It will be seen that when the latter is moved forward by the rotation of shaft H the slide S is forced down against the tension of the spring T.

When the follower E is moved back, the slide S, actuated by spring T, rises in the cylinder R. The latter is provided with a slot or opening, V, through which the movements of slide S may be observed, thereby enabling the operator to determine the position of the nut F upon screw H.-

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed,

the operation of our invention and its ad vantages will be readily understood. It is simple in construction, easily operated, and the breaking of parts, hich has been found to interfere seriously with automatic brakes of the class to which our invention belongs, may be avoided by the indicating mechanism above described, which forms a part of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The combination, in an adjustable carbrake, of the boxes S, slides U, having longitudinal horizontal slots V, springs X, sliding arms W, and tongs F, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in a car-brake, of the boxes S, slides U, having longitudinal slots V and beveled ends, springs X, sliding arms NV, and tongs F with the levers Y, having arms Z, connecting-rods A. and rock-shaft O, havin g cranks B, and lever D, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a car-brake constructed and operating substantially as described, the combination of the longitudinally-moving follower E with the slotted cylinder It, slide S, spring T, and connecting-rope U, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WALTER EDWARD SPARKS. CHARLES HENRY SPARKS. Witnesses:

J. J. SEERLEY, W. E. Woonwann. 

